Rule of law in Burma faces another test as violence rattles northeast

Suu Kyi has yet to extend an olive branch to the many minority groups that form Burma. Source: AP/Aung Shine Oo.

160

Social Buzz

MORE than 20,000 people have fled ongoing violence between ethnic minorities and security officials in northern Burma (Myanmar), arriving in camps on the Chinese side of the border.

The violence is jeopardising the democratisation process initiated by the National League for Democracy (NLD).

De facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has yet to extend an olive branch to the many minority groups that form the modern nation state.

This is in part due to her inability to outmanoeuvre the military as well as her failure to see eye-to-eye with minorities like the Rohingya.

China is another country feeling the brunt of the exodus.

According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Thursday, “China supports Myanmar’s peace process and hopes all sides can use peaceful means to resolve their differences via dialogue and consultation”.

China is taking steps to stabilise the border region.

The Rohingya may grab the headlines, but other militia groups continue to rebel with violent means against decades-long persecution.

In the country’s northwest, the government faces a continued insurgency in Rakhine state.

Thousands of Rohingya continue to flee to Bangladesh.

In December 2016, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs spokesman Pierre Peron said, “Humanitarian access to conflict areas in Kachin and Shan states is currently worse than at any point in the past few years.”

“This has seriously affected the ability of humanitarian organisations to provide life-saving aid to tens of thousands of (internally displaced) and other conflict-affected people.”

Hindered by ongoing violence on several fronts, any peace process faces some insurmountable tasks.

The last time a nationwide ceasefire was negotiated in 2011 under the military-backed government, only eight of 15 rebel groups signed. Conflict has continued ever since.